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by fcbrooklyn 2813 days ago
At some point, you will be confronted with a problem (a bug most likely), and you think it is beyond your ability to fix. Do not give up. If you can't figure out what's wrong, figure out what isn't wrong, and keep figuring out what isn't wrong. This may not feel like progress, but it is. Do not go to your dev lead and say "this one is beyond me". Say "I'm stuck, but I've tried X, Y and Z, and it's none of those things. Do you have any ideas?"

Biggest issue I find with developers right out of school, is that they often feel ok throwing a problem over the wall to a more senior dev. The truth is, all of us are confronted with problems we don't know how to solve. That is the job, but if we don't solve them, who will? You will not magically discover an ability to solve impossible problems and diagnose inscrutable bugs. But if you don't give up, and you fight your way through these problems again and again, you will develop confidence, and the instincts that allow you to do it a bit quicker next time.

On a related note, do NOT rejoice when a bug you've been struggling with suddenly goes away (another thing I've seen many times). Nasty bugs "going away" is one of the worst things that can happen. I promise you, 90% of the time it's coming back. And it's coming back at the worst possible moment, and possibly in a less friendly form.